Chemicals used in apparent suicide on RPI campus sicken six other people

TROY -- Police are investigating an apparent suicide on the campus of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, and several others have sought treatment for toxic chemical exposure after the discovery of a student's body in a dorm room.

Police said emergency responders arrived at the campus at about 6 a.m. Tuesday to find the body of a male student they say committed suicide using household chemicals sometime during the early morning hours.

"The suicide was accomplished by the use of dangerous household chemicals," Troy police spokesman Capt. John Cooney said. "Police also located six persons who had entered the room and were exposed to the chemicals."

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Cooney said all six, including one RPI public safety officer, were sent to Samaritan Hospital for precautionary measures.

Police said they are not releasing the victim's identity until his family has been notified.

The scene near the Colvin Circle student housing complex was being processed by a special HazMat team, which he said would be in place "for quite some time, to accomplish decontamination."

It was not immediately clear what household chemicals were used or how they were used, though police said more details would be available as the investigation progresses.